Secretary of state for health and social care, Wes Streeting, promised the 10-Year Health Plan would ‘tear through this tangled web of bureaucracy'.

Streeting said: ‘The NHS needs more doers and fewer checkers. Our reforms will cut unnecessary bureaucracy and liberate staff to deliver safe, timely care for patients.'

Other organisations facing the axe, include: the Health Services Safety Investigations Body, the National Guardian's Office and Healthwatch England.

Streeting added: ‘Over the past decade and a half, an overly complex system of healthcare regulation and oversight has been left to spiral out of control. Creating new quangos can make for a good announcement, but rarely solves the problem. Our 10-Year Health Plan will tear through this tangled web of bureaucracy, cut wasteful spending and reinvest the savings in frontline care.'

RCN general secretary and chief executive, Professor Nicola Range, said: ‘Things are so unsafe for patients right now that this is a high-stakes move. Today, in hospitals across the NHS, we know one nurse can be left caring for 10, 15 or more patients at a time. It's not safe. It's not effective. And it's not acceptable.

‘For these proposed changes to be effective Government must take ownership of the real issue, the staffing crisis on our wards, and not just shuffle people into new roles. Protecting patients has to be the priority and not just a drive for efficiency.'